Adventures in Shilling: Cossu, Minx, Tuttimelon, MORE

Join us for another edition of Adventures in Shilling, wherein we celebrate the grossest shills from around the world wide web. As always, you too can help fight shills.

Leading off the festivities this afternoon, we have good ol' Cossu, which replaced Pasha earlier this summer. A reader highlights this review, and sure enough, it pretty much reads like a bad press release. And new rule: anytime Christmas party destinations get mentioned in August, it's an automatic red flag and eyebrow raiser:

I went to Cossu for a friend's birthday celebration. There were about 12 of us. This was a fun place to celebrate!! ... Partway into our meal, we enjoyed some great photo opportunities with the belly dancer. She was very talented, entertaining, and friendly...she encouraged a few in my group to interact and do some dancing of their own. The place was pretty easy to find. Parking was not a problem, the owners were very welcoming and super friendly, the chef went around the restaurant to make sure that every 1 was satisfied with there meals, and offered some great info's about Moroccan food witch was very nice of him.
Because of the great time we had at Cossu, we v decided to have our company Christmas party in there. cant wait, will recommend this place to all my friends and family.
Shill Probability: 75%

It wouldn't be a proper episode of Adventures in Shilling without a chorus of shills from a froyo contingent. Today, your representative is Tuttimelon. Witness these three consecutive comments:

Tuttimelon will be a great addition to the neighborhood.

I want some tuttimelon now!

Best yogurt in town is coming to my hood!!

Shill Probability: as a whole, 83%

The shuttered Red Room had a loyal following, and now there's some rampant shilling going on at the Yelp page for the bar's replacement, Minx. Three of the better shills:

Yeah yeah yeah...get over it people...The Red Room is no more...Just like the dotcoms that once fueled it. I love the new place. I've met some very cool people (from all over the world) and had some yummy drinks and shots. The bartenders are awesome and the parking garage across the street is nice. Just make sure you get your car out before midnight.

Kick ass bar, Gorgeous bartenders, and most important the best manhattan I've had around, Great crowd love the decor it's definitely not for those pussies who are whining about the red room being gone,Run don't walk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This place is great for anyone who's anyone. If you're like me who works in the salon biz and want to mingle with fabulous people any night of the week then you must check it out. Super hip and totally cool. Great place to have a good cocktail any time of the night.
Shill Probability: 92%

And the pick of the litter, a bit of Herculean shilling from Palo Alto's brand-new Asian fusion joint Bistro D'Asie:

Bistro D' Asie is a great addition to Palo Alto, CA. Great bar menu! Must try dishes: Crab Claws, Seafood/Chicken Eggrolls, Lobster Spring Rolls, Seafood soup, Duck Tacos, Chilean Sea Bass, Shaking Lamb, Carmelized Scallops, Garlic noodles, Macaroni and Crab Pasta. Yummy desserts especially the cheesecake and chocolate mousse. Trendy, cozy place for intimate time with friends

And then:

Fantastic new menu! This is an incredibly creative menu and a great interpretation of Vietnamese food, much better than Tamarine Restaurant down the street. The crab pasta is to die for. Try the scallops and the steam sea bass. You won't be disappointed.

Finally:

I had the privilege to eat at Bistro D'Asie two nights in a row last week. I ordered the Calamari which was really good. I shared bits and pieces of food from my friends' plates and I have to say the lamb is probably one of the best tasting foods I have ever had, no lie. If you ever get a chance to eat at this restaurant, order the lamb. The garlic macaroni is very good as well. The water with the cucumber flavoring is a little bit different, but in a good way.

Along with the food, every wednesday a live band performs from 6PM to closing and they are really good, playing tunes ranging from Michael Jackson to Justin Timberlake to Kanye West. The environment is very laid back and welcoming and I would definitely recommend giving this restaurant a try if you haven't already
Shill Probability: all three together, a solid 99%

Adventures in Shilling: The Complete Collection [~ESF~]

[Photo: Jennifer Yin]